Field of the Invention
The invention relates to augers, and, more particularly, to a vehicular auger implement for use with a vehicle such as an ATV.
Description of the Prior Art
High power augers that provide an output torque of about 200 to 300 ft. lbs. are traditionally operated by two people. These are the earth augers that drive long and large diameter large auger bits with, for example, a 1¼ in. square female snap connection, a 1⅜″ hex male pinned connection, or other robust connector. They are usually heavy, gasoline powered, and require two people to manually position and attempt to keep the unit from spinning out of their hands by their shear strength. They must also attempt keep the auger drilling vertical by sight. These types of augers are very dangerous for the operators and very exhausting to use. FIG. A1 depicts a typical two-man auger being manipulated by hand, one being driven by a hydraulic circuit.
Another style is to have a self contained “one man” operated unit that is mounted on wheels. These are more expensive and really require a least two people if the ground in not flat as these units are very heavy and are virtually impossible to keep positioned by one person on a slope.
In other cases, the auger is theoretically enabled for one-man operation by being partially supported by a telescoping “torque tube” that is attached to a trailer hitch or other anchored object. In use, however, the torque tube pivots about its end connections and the operator must strive to adjust the relative angle of the auger in order to move the auger straight up and straight down.
In another prior art arrangement as shown in FIG. A2 (i.e. on the back of a tractor), the auger is connected to a 3-point hitch and driven by a mechanical power take-off. As shown, the auger is pivoted about on a heavy-duty support member such that the auger bit tends to rotate around the support members pivot point as it drills down into the earth. In typical operation, this still requires two people—a spotter and a driver. The spotter guides the driver in order to position the point of the auger bit over the desired bore and then the team begins to bore the hole with the auger bit. As the auger bit advances into the soil, the gear box begins to pivot away from the tractor around the link (see arrow) and, because of this, the driver inches forward to prevent the auger tip from moving toward the tractor's original location.
Vehicular auger mounts have been developed for mounting augers to vehicles, including smaller vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). A typical ATV is a small open single-rider vehicle having four wheels and generally designed for off-road use on various types of terrain or rough ground. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) defines an ATV as a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with motorcycle-like handlebars for steering control. ATVs usually do not have windshields.
Other vehicles of similar size, power, and all-terrain capability have different names. For example, a UTV (utility task vehicle), sometimes called a “side-by-side,” is a four-wheel drive vehicle that usually is slightly larger than an ATV, usually has a conventional steering wheel, and provides seating for 2 or 4 people in a side-by-side arrangement. UTVs sometimes have windshields. UTVs often have small truck beds and, as a result, are popular among golf course maintenance personnel, parks and recreation departments, and any other users who need to travel over uneven terrain with people and materials.
ATVs and UTVs are traditionally sold by well-known manufacturers such as HONDA®, KAWASAKI®, ARCTIC CAT®, YAMAHA®, CAN-AM®, SUZUKI®, and POLARIS®. For the sake of simplicity, this application will refer to vehicles in this general class as “ATVs.”
An ATV is usually powered by an internal combustion engine that runs on gasoline or other suitable fuel (e.g. propane, diesel fuel, etc.) For moving the ATV, the engine is usually coupled to a pair of rear-drive wheels via the engine's drive shaft and an intermediate transmission. Some ATVs even include four wheel drive power train.
ATV's are often used for recreational purposes, but ATV manufacturer are also making models that are well-suited for use as general purpose work vehicles or utility vehicles (e.g. on a farm or other large property, for military purposes, etc.).
Due to the ever increasing demand to use ATVs as work vehicles, various implements have been designed to convert ATVs into more useful vehicles, such as lawn mowers, log splitters, electric generators, etc. However, these attachments normally came with significant drawbacks in that duplicate engines were needed to run the separate implements that may or may not be pulled by the ATV, which is very costly and needlessly weighs down the ATV. Conventional implements are custom installed and are cumbersome and time consuming to utilize in that they are required to be bolted onto the ATV engine and have to be completely unbolted and disassembled to operate the ATV in a normal function when not using the implement.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,284,625 and 7,600,594, invented by applicant and hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, disclose a unique hydraulic power take-off (PTO) system for use with an ATV. The two patents more specifically disclose a quick connect/disconnect assembly for allowing a power transfer unit to be connected to and disconnected from an ATV. The power transfer unit detachably connects to an output shaft associated with the rotation of the ATV's engine (usually the engine's drive shaft) and then powers an implement connected to, carried by, or located near the ATV. The power transfer unit beneficially eliminates the need to have separate engines for the implements.
The preferred power transfer unit is a hydraulic pump that forces fluid through a hydraulic circuit and drives a hydraulic motor associated with the implement. The exemplary implements that could be driven with the hydraulic power transfer unit included a lawn mower, a water sprayer, a snow blower, an air compressor, a water pump, a post-hole digger, an electric generator, a wood chipper, and a log splitter.
In the typical ATV, the engine includes an engine case and a drive shaft or other engine shaft that extends from the engine case. Typically, the engine's drive shaft is accessible beneath the drive shaft cover or starter cover that is historically associated with a so-called “Recoil Starter.” In earlier ATVs, the drive shaft cover sometimes included a pull handle to permit the operator to hand start the engine in the event that the electrically-driven starter was inoperable. In more recent ATVs, however, the drive shaft cover often does not include a pull handle and the cover is just a cover.
In one commercial embodiment made according to the '625 and '594 patents, designed for retrofitting a hydraulic power take-off unit to a BRUTE FORCE® model ATV manufactured by KAWASAKI®, the starter cover is removed and a drive plate that carries a female coupler is retrofitted to the drive shaft. Then, the starter cover is replaced with a quick connect case that provides suitable quick connect features along its periphery and has a central aperture that exposes an outward face of the female coupler. Using a suitable quick connect/disconnect mechanism that mates with the features on the case, the hydraulic pump is connected to the quick connect case and, inside of the case, the hydraulic pump's input shaft and associated male coupler are mated with the female coupler.
The quick connect assembly and hydraulic power transfer unit disclosed in the '625 and '594 patents advantageously allows an ATV owner to power various implements by using the ATV's own engine—without requiring a duplicate engine on the implement.
Auger mounts have been developed for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,836,402, 6,681,470 and 8,397,835. In the vehicular auger mounts disclosed in the foregoing patents, however, the auger-holder has been based on a less than optimal slide-like mechanism that makes it somewhat difficult to position the auger and maintain a vertical path in a wide variety of circumstances.
Accordingly, a need has been developed in the art to provide a vehicular auger implement that allows the operator to easily position the auger and keeps the auger bit vertical as it goes deeper and deeper into the soil.